Shut Up and Scratch
by GreenMartini
Summary: Hogwarts has a furry little problem, and his name is Draco Malfoy. AU
1. You have got to be kidding me

Shut Up and Scratch

By: RavenPaine (at) http/ One: You have got to be kidding me...

Humiliation has its limitations, Draco thought sourly as he was carried to the Hospital Wing by none other than Professor Severus Snape. The young Malfoy was beyond mortified as he remembered what the rest of the third period Transfiguration class had seen happen to him, and it was all Professor McGonagall's fault, not matter how many people in the class had tried to deny it. She had deliberately cast a spell on him, which was linked to the fact that she still blamed him for the death of Dumbledore, blatantly ignoring the fact that both he and Snape were cleared of all charges by the Ministry of Magic.

"-not to worry though. Denarios' in the process of contacting your father about your, eh, condition, as we speak. That should be a riot," Snape mused to himself with an eerie smile as they made it to the Infirmary. Carefully, Snape set Draco down on the nearest bed which was covered in white linen.

Draco softly brooded over the preliminary question of why the Healers always used white cotton opposed to a darker color that wouldn't stain with blood that easily. Another mystery of the world that will have to remain unsolved for today, he thought. Sitting up, Draco looked around the Infirmary to find it void of human life. Snape had gone over to Madam Pomfrey's office to explain to her the conditions of the incident. Sunlight poured through the arched stained-glass windows, contrasting the current mood of Draco. A team of what looked like rather large bumblebees could be seen through the windows playing a practice Quidditch match.

"Fine, fine Severus, I'll look over Mr. Malfoy. I'm telling you though all he's doing is making a big show of it to get out of doing something like he always does," the voice of Madam Pomfrey drifted through the almost barren hospital. Her gaze quickly scanned over all of the beds in the room looking baffled. "Severus, where is Mr. Malfoy?" her voice inquired, giving away her confusion. When Snape pointed to the bed closest to the door where Draco was dutifully sitting, Pomfrey's usually serene face broke into a gleeful grin. "Oh, you must be kidding me!" She walked over and sat on the bed next to Draco's sitting form, putting two fingers under his chin so she should better look in his eyes. "I do say, Severus, you really outdid yourself on this one! He even has Malfoy's eyes!"

By this time Draco could not believe what he was hearing. Pomfrey did not believe it was really him. Worriedly, he pushed his back further against the pillows. He watched with wide eyes as the aging Healer had begun to emit downright maniacal laughter. Ashamed, he turned himself and buried his head beneath the white pillow.

"What, may I ask, do you find so amusing, Poppy?" Snape asked angrily, turning to face her instead of Malfoy's cowering form.

"You expect…me…to…believe that….that… thing… is….Malfoy?" Pomfrey managed to get out in between gales of laughter.

"It is Malfoy! Now will you please try to help him instead of embarrassing him more than he already is?"

"Oh, Severus, you shouldn't have! April Fool's Day is not until tomorrow! If I were you I would check my calendar again!"

"Knock it off, Poppy! This is not some childish prank! This," he said picking up Draco by the scruff of the neck and holding him out in front of her. "This is Mr. Draco Malfoy. If need be, I will go and fetch Denario and he will only prove said statement to be true!" Snape snarled, beginning to shake with rage at this point.

Madam Poppy Pomfrey stopped laughing immediately and looked at 'Mr. Malfoy'. "But, Severus, this is a kitten," she said quietly, taking the small creature from Snape's grasp and into her own.

"It is, but it's also Mr. Malfoy. Professor McGonagall 'accidentally' cast the spell on him and she refuses to tell anybody the counter curse. We were hoping you could help him."

"Honestly, I don't know of anything that could help with this. I will ask around though. Have they made plans for his classes yet?"

"The incident only happened twenty minutes ago, I would give it until this evening before we get an answer."

"All right. I guess it's just you and I here until we get this sorted out, Mr. Malfoy."

Upon having his worst thoughts confirmed, Draco nudged his way out of her hands and promptly moved over to the night table which had a tin-like plate on it for decoration. Staring back at him was a kitten's small face and body with jet-black, downy fur and large grey eyes. Dejectedly, he stalked back over to the pillows and curled up on top of them, determined to ignore everybody until this problem was resolved.


	2. Revelations and Caretakers

A/N: For those of you who have already read Chapter One. (it would make sense that you read Chapter One before Chapter Two but some people like to be different…Anyways, if you read Chapter One before I posted this I would like to inform you that I changed some things around. Bloom is not the Headmaster and in fact, there is no Headmaster. Instead there is a Headmistress. Replacing Bloom's character (whom you have not met yet) is going to be replaced by Denario. Nice guy. (Or so we hope…) Oh, and while I was writing this I was in the hospital after surgery and I finished it post-surgery, so I would love it if you could show me a little slack. Thank you for reading the A/N! If you have questions/problems/complaints/praise/ et cetera. feel free to review. I respond to every review that I get.

**Chapter Two: Revelation of Information**

The corner of the paper rose and fell as Draco softly breathed next to the script filled parchment. Madam Pomfrey was seated next to the bed on a chair, a vinyl desktop sitting on the bed. Atop the desktop, papers were strewn everywhere, creating a layer of scattered whites, greens, and yellows. Draco's gray eyes scanned across the page, following Madam Pomfrey's furiously scribbling quill.

Not much else could be done at this present day and time until Madam Pomfrey went through all of her notes sent to her by various colleagues. Given Madam Pomfrey's sudden outburst and the colorful string of words she had used, nobody that she knew in the Wizarding World had any knowledge of the spell Professor McGonagall used on Draco.

Irritated, Draco moved his back leg trying to cease the infernal itching. Finding it amusing that Draco had caused her much frustration over the years with his over exaggerated injuries and given the fact that he was now at her mercy, consequently led her to tie a piece of string to his ankle to keep him in the Hospital Wing after his various attempts to flee. The piece of string was actually part of a yarn ball that Pomfrey had given him to 'entertain' himself.

"Well, Mr. Malfoy, we can't find anything. Not to worry though, we have every expert on the field working on the problem. What would really help is if we had knowledge of what spell was used on you. Nobody has heard of anything quite like this before."

Draco inwardly scowled as she sighed for what seemed like the millionth time that day. Whoever was the first person to sigh should be knocked from history's time line. Then again, this would defeat a person

The soft click of the bolt coming out of the stone frame of the doorway signified the turning of the silver handle. The door opened slightly, the figure of a man walking in appeared quietly closing the door behind him after he slipped through the door. The man had a stout build, and was rather short compared to most other men. His hair was a sandy blonde and his eyes (upon closer investigation) were hazel. He quietly walked over to Madam Pomfrey, standing next to her.

"Who are you?" Madam Pomfrey asked, standing up and looking at the man.

"My name is Sean Denario. I am one of the twelve school governors. I have been sent to handle this case because the Headmistress of the school, who would usually handle these situations, is the convict in question. I have been given the duty to find provisions for Mr. Malfoy. It is obvious that you and your colleagues are searching for a cure, so we don't have to worry about that part. The next order of business would be how you will continue to study at Hogwarts. The best plan would be just to let you go to class and get your education through books and oral presentations by your professors. You, of course, would be excused from all practical work and examinations, as well as all of the written homework assignments considering the fact that you have no way of writing.

"There are several problems that occur with that plan though. First of all, we have no way of telling whether or not you're passing. As I know, you have had exceptional grades so far, even taking into consideration the fact that you were, how to this, um, 'out of it' for a majority of last year, we still have our doubts. I have heard of many students starting out as you have, only to stop working in their seventh year because they feel as if it does not matter anymore. Little do those slackers know that universities actually look more closely at your sixth and seventh year than they do any other years; which is why we're trying to find a way to evaluate you.

"Second of all, there would be the problem of how to get your books to carry them. I can tell you right now, no matter how much spirit you have, your small body is not going to be able to move your bag with your textbooks in it. This having been said we, the governors, have decided that it would be for the better if we were to assign you a guardian whilst you are in this, condition. We have talked to several of your fellow Slytherin classmates and a majority of them said that Miss Parkinson would be the best choice for you. True, we wanted someone that was of the same gender so things would no go against the school rules, but everyone seems to believe that Miss Parkinson is a good choice."

If Draco could have scowled, he would have. He didn't want to spend the entirety of his time as a cat wrapped up in Pansy's clutches. At least if he were under Potter's care, he would be completely ignored, that is if he wasn't subjected to being thoroughly tortured.

"If you will excuse me, I shall go fetch Miss Parkinson so she can begin her term as caretaker," Denario said with a short bow, and with a flourish, he strode through the infirmary doors.

Madam Pomfrey moved her papers and makeshift table aside and sat next to Draco on the bed. She slowly stroked behind his ear as she said, "If it gets too bad, escape and come up here, we'll find someone else for you."

In regards to her kindness, Draco rubbed his head against her petting palm, bringing a smile to her face.

A few minutes later the door to the infirmary was swung open and Pansy Parkinson stood in the doorway. Her eyes were alight when she spotted Draco curling up next to Madam Pomfrey. When she ran over to him to try to pick him up, Draco scampered for the end of the bed, hoping to get underneath of it before she could grab him. Much to his dismay, the yarn ball shackle was still securely in place and Draco found himself dangling over the edge of the bed, clawing hopelessly at the floor trying to get a grip.


	3. The Savior

A/N: Welcome to the infamous chapter three! Just remember…good things happen in three, so this story's bound to be good! Sweetness! Mind you…I am drugged on Motrin because I'm in pain and it's 10 o'clock at night…I'm usually getting ready to sleep so I can be up at six. Motrin+Lack of sleep Update! YAY! Anyways, as always read and review please! I love your feedback and personally respond to EVERY review I get! Go me! Onto the story! ((A/N 2 at the bottom, very important))

* * *

Chapter Three: The Savior

"Draco! Awe, how adorable!" Death was starting to look nice to Draco as he struggled to get out of Pansy's vice grip. Draco felt as if his back was scorching from her digging her long manicured nails into his skin. The more that he tried to stop the itching and burning, the worse it got. He wanted nothing more than to sit in a small bath for hours while his skin grew back. When he looked up at Madam Pomfrey he noticed that she was shooting him a sympathetic look as Pansy continued to torment Draco's physical and mental state.

What made Draco the angriest was the fact that she kept cooing at him in between receiving instructions from Madam Pomfrey and Denario. She was told to keep him with her at all times. The thoughts running through Draco's mind were quite clear about what he thought about the matter, though nobody would ever know what they were until they found a cure. 'Please do not make me watch her bathe. I will claw my eyes out. And do not think I will not do it either! I have the claws available for use anytime I wish to use them! I will poke myself and put myself out of that misery! No, I shouldn't torture myself because of someone else's stupidity. I'll just curl up in a corner facing the wall if I must. This is all Denario's fault. What kind of imbecile goes into the Slytherin House and asks them for advice. That would be like walking into the lion's den and asking if you could borrow their food. It should not be done! When this is all over, I am going to tie Denario to a chair and force him to eat cat food! You do not know vile tasting until you have eaten cat food. Then again, Madam Pomfrey said that it was good for you, but I really miss mashed potatoes. Listen to how pathetic I sound, six hours of being a cat and I'm already upset because I won't get to eat mashed potatoes. Note to self, stop being so sarcastic with myself.

"You two are free to go. Miss Parkinson, do as you were told, and, Mr. Malfoy, good luck," Sean "imbecile" Denario stated, sealing the deal Draco's twisted life.

* * *

From what Draco has been told over the years, most people seem to fear the darkness. At the present moment, the darkness was his friend. Draco knew the minute he saw the light, he was going to be face to face with the eye of Hell. The last thing that he wanted to do was go back to see his housemates so they could ridicule him. There was no sense in denying it, the mockery was inevitable.

The temperature in the small bundle of fabric that had Draco hidden had risen several degrees due to the fact that his breath hitched when he heard Pansy mutter the password to the hidden wall that served as the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room. Draco gave an involuntary shudder as Pansy gave an excited squeal in her horribly untuned voice. The wall turned on its creatively crafted stone hinges revealing the low hanging green lamps and dreary common room of the House of the Silver Snakes.

The quiet buzz of conversations and turning pages of thick tomes could be heard through the thin fabric.

"Guys! You'll never believe it! I get to take care of Draco!" Pansy said as soon as she got through the wall of the Slytherin Common Room. In the hours after the incident, everyone within the Slytherin House had known what happened. Upon hearing the word "Draco" mentioned, most of the students ran over to where Pansy was holding Draco out.

The girls all did a simultaneous 'awe' at Pansy's inquiring of "Is it not the cutest think you have ever seen?" as she pulled the material from around Draco. As Draco's grey eyes scanned the room over quickly, he noticed that all of the girls wore identical masks of joy, and all of the guys had triumphant smirks on their face, obviously pleased that someone had finally found a way to bring Draco down. Draco went limp in Pansy's grasp, his head hanging in shame. He heard a gale of laughter as everyone watched Draco give up his reign over the students and submit to Pansy's control.

With a low hiss Draco clawed his way out of Pansy's hand, leaving three deep gashes, and ran for cover under one of the furthest armchairs. From under the chair, he could see the light of the flames flickering from the hearth. After a few minutes the laughter had died down and everybody had gone back to what they were doing before Pansy's news break.

Crawling to the back of underneath the chair, Draco saw Pansy sitting on the couch staring at the armchair he was hiding under. Upon hearing the falling of papers Draco jumped up, frightened. He looked over to the front of the chair to see a hand snapping its fingers.

"Draco, come over here," a voice hissed quietly, as if it did not want anyone to hear.

Suspiciously, Draco wandered over to the hand and touched it briefly with his wet nose and quickly backed away.

"Draco, it's Blaise. Come on, get in my bag. I'll take you upstairs where Pansy cannot come up and get you," the reassuring voice said quietly.

Walking over to the open bag that was being offered, Draco quietly got inside, trusting Blaise more for the reason that he did not have reason not to trust him. The strap of the bag was lightly lifted to its owner's shoulder and a hand came inside the bag to hold Draco just to make sure that Draco was not crushed by any of the heavy textbooks.

When they reached the top of the stairway, Blaise pulled Draco out of the bag and set him down on the floor so he could walk on his own. The small creature looked up at his savior's tall frame. He took in the thin build, the deep blue eyes, and the unruly curly dark brown hair. Draco took notice of how accent laden Blaise's voice was when he said the password to his private room. Blaise, being the lucky person that he is, got the Prefect position after Draco had been retired from duty for his sixth year.

"If I'm going to save you from Pansy, you're going to pay attention," Blaise's calm voice said as his foot nudged Draco through the open door.

* * *

A/N 2: ((You get two of them this time. Doesn't that make you feel special?)) Important note: I have read the sixth book! I have read Chapter Seven: "The Slug Club", and I do know what Blaise Zabini looks like. This has been what I imagined Blaise looking like since I've been writing fanfictions. I plan on keeping him that way, just because I want to. Thank you for your time! Review please! 


	4. Meeting Mr Weird

A/N: Morning peeps! This chapter was written fairly quickly (I just wanted to update and get it out of the way), and is mucho, mucho long. I was scared when I saw how long it actually was. Sky Lark Turner gets full credit for the password used in this chapter:whoot: If you read this and can guess one of my favorite actors, you will get a really big E-cookie and mentioned in the next chapter! Now, onto the story!

**Chapter Four: Meeting Mr. Weird**

Those people who were in this situation would agree that trying to sleep while being a cat was not the easiest things to do. This was decided during the night while Draco tried to sleep. When he was human, he was used to being able to sleep through almost anything he wanted too. Being in his much smaller cat body had set him on edge; he constantly feared that something or someone would hurt him. He knew Blaise well enough from classes and being around the common room, but not even knowing the fact that Blaise would not hurt him could relax Draco's nerves. Every little noise, be it a creak or a groan from the old school had him shaking. When Blaise shifted during the night to get comfortable, Draco would wake up, his subconscious telling him that something was going wrong.

At two in the morning, Blaise woke up to check the time and realized that Draco was not sleeping right. Trying to help him out, Blaise ran his hand on top of Draco's head until he went into a comfortable doze. As soon as Blaise went to lie back down, Draco's head popped back up. Blaise sat back up with a groan of either frustration or weariness was difficult to tell. He sat with his legs butterflied before him with his elbows resting on his knees, his hands on either side of his lightly tanned face.

Draco looked down apologetically, as if it was his fault that Blaise was sitting up in his bed at two in the morning. He could not help but stalk over and rub against Blaise's hand.

Without a word, Blaise put his hand under Draco's chin, cupping his face and looking into his eyes. After a long moment, Blaise's quiet voice inquired, "What could be bothering you? Are you afraid of what your father will say? No? Um, having troubled thoughts about Pansy finding you?" At this Draco's head went back down to facing the bed, trying to avoid Blaise's gaze. "Ah-ha, we have found the culprit that is shadowing your thoughts. I have an idea," Blaise said running his hand over Draco's head. "Tomorrow, well, technically it's this morning, we will go visit Denario and request a change of guardianship. But for now, we sleep." Blaise grabbed Draco by the scruff of the neck before placing him down on a spare pillow right next to his. He flopped down on the bed, pulling the bed covers with him.

Blaise's blue eyes shut as he tried to sleep, Draco just sat watching him, refusing to let sleep come over him. Blaise's words kept playing over in his head. _'The culprit shadowing your thoughts.'_ How had Blaise known that he was having problems. Draco did not think that he had given any clues for the other to suspect that. Draco looked up and found a pair of indigo eyes staring back at him.

"Sleep," Blaise's soft, sleepy voice commanded as a hand drifted up to be placed on top of Draco. Listening to the quiet noises of the night, the two drifted off into a peaceful sleep until the dawn would awake them and bring forth the worries of the day.

* * *

Harsh, winter light radiated into the room, some of it haltered from the green curtains on the window. Draco was not used to waking up to a harsh light while at Hogwarts. His room in the sixth year dorms had still been underground so they did not have any windows. Blaise's room was far enough up from the Slytherin Common Room that it broke the ground floor. The hand which was resting on him gave a slight twitch when he shifted. Draco's gaze followed the hand to its owner's face which still carried the serene expression of slumber.

Stealthily, Draco slithered out from under the warm flesh that had comforted him during the night. He walked across the mahogany nightstand and stepped lightly behind the curtain and onto the thick windowsill. Looking out the slightly fogged glass, Draco's eyes were met with a sight that could only be described as breathtaking. Dawn's first light had radiated across the grounds, creating different shades of red, yellow, and vibrant oranges to coat the surface of the smooth ice-coated lake. The rays of light reflected off the dewy, icy grass that was not covered by the light coating of winter snow. The snow was left untouched and very vivacious, reflecting almost harshly back at anybody that gazed upon its beauty. The Quidditch Pitch could be seen in the distance, standing tall and sturdy as if it were guarding the grounds from anyone that would dare to ruin this picture.

Draco was so taken aback that he did not realize that the other patron of the room had gotten out of bed and was standing over him with his hands in his black pajama pants. "I suppose seeing this in the morning is quite different than waking up to a grey stone wall, is it not?" He smiled when Draco turned to look at him for a moment, and then turned back to the window. "Well, as much as I would love to stay here and stare at this scene, I have to get ready for class before we go to see Denario." With that said, Blaise drifted off to the adjacent room.

* * *

"I completely agree, Mr. Zabini. The problem is that I cannot switch guardianship without first contacting Mister Malfoy to get his approval. I shall write to him as soon as we are done here." A bell sounded in the distance. "Did you two just miss class?"

"No, Sir, that was the end of breakfast. Class starts in ten minutes," Blaise said quietly. He was used to talking with strangers, but there was something about the man sitting before him that did not settle right within his intuition.

"Well, you two should get ready for class then. Just do me a favor, Mr. Zabini, keep him close," Denario said referring to Draco.

With a short nod, Blaise stood up and slung his bag on his shoulder. Draco hopped off of the chair he was on and followed at Blaise's heels. The walk down the staircase was unnervingly silent. When they got out into the corridor Blaise finally spoke. "Our first class is Transfiguration today." He saw Draco look up at him and then got braced to sprint for his life, but Blaise's reflexes were faster and picked him up by the scruff of the neck. "You are going to class. Boot told me yesterday that the substitute said that McGonagall would not be teaching for a while." He placed Draco back on the floor and went to the end of the corridor. There they came face to face with a small sinister-looking girl holding a bouquet of black roses in front of her.

"Do you have the password?" Her sickly sweet voice inquired of Blaise.

"_Morbid butterfly_," Blaise stated to the little girl and she winked at him and blew him an air kiss before opening up for him. With a resounded sigh, Blaise walked through the portrait hole and down the steep stairwell. When they reached the portrait hole on the bottom of that stairwell, they were on the ground floor, right down the corridor from the Great Hall. From there they went through the Entrance Hall to the stairwell, going up one flight and coming to stop in front of the Transfiguration classroom. When Blaise pushed open the door there were only two seats left at the back of the class. Everybody was anxious to see what the new substitute would be like.

Draco walked in following close to Blaise, but keeping enough distance between him and Blaise's shoe that he would not get stepped on. He hopped on nimble feet to the flat of the stool and sat. Blaise sat lightly beside him. With a slight curving of the left side of his mouth, Blaise picked Draco up and plopped him on the desktop, much to Draco's dismay. The site that greeted him at the front of the room was one that he had never yet witnessed. The teacher was lying atop his desk, as if he had sat down with his back facing them and lay back, his head upside down and watching the class with curious sapphire eyes. His light brown hair lay thick at the top of his head, yet barely brushed the nape of his neck.

The bell sounded just as the two took their seat. When the third chime ceased, the teacher rolled backwards until his feet hit the floor and he turned to face the class.

"Bienvenidos, clase!" He started with his arms wide as if embracing the class. "¿Ustedes no hablan Espańol? Okay then, I guess we will have to speak English. Welcome class to Transfiguration! Just in case you could not tell from my accent, I am from America. There is a reason for it, but it is disclosed information that I will not be telling you, today at least. I am, well let's try to figure this out," the mud-colored haired man began tracing out mathematical calculations in the air. "I am negative 422 years old." At the word 'negative' eyebrows were arched faster than a lightning strike during a thunderstorm. "Yes, you heard right, negative years. I am from the year 2439," he stated chuckling lightly at their shocked expressions. "It was a mishap in the department, and it's working on being fixed, nothing to worry about. So, for now you're stuck with me. We have a full classroom, so I am guessing that everybody's here, but formalities must be met and we have to take roll." He picked up a clipboard from his desk. "When I read your name, say 'here', or whatever it is you usually say when you do roll." He looked around the classroom quickly and noticed a raised hand. "Yes, Miss…?"

"…Granger. Would it not be wise to take roll of _our _names after you tell us your name?" The girl with the bushy brown hair in the front row said.

"Ah, yes, my name," he said nodding. "My name just happens to be Ian McGregor. Now, time to do roll call."

The students' names in the small classroom were read through in a seemingly bored tone from Professor McGregor. 'A' to 'B', 'B' to 'G', and 'G' to 'L'.

"Draco Malfoy." Blaise looked over at Draco and then said "Here" in a tone that said he would rather be anywhere but here, just as Draco would. Then the names rolled on and on. Finally, Blaise Zabini was called. "Here," Blaise said not bothering to look up, but finding his desk rather interesting.

"Okay class, today we are going to do absolutely nothing! I know that is just the line that I wanted to here when I was in school. I cannot teach you anything because I do not know what has been invented and what has not been. Therefore, socialize, start a fight, but don't do anything that will get anybody sent to the Hospital Wing, or I will personally come after you and send you to the Hospital Wing. Go ahead and report me, the worst you can do is get me fired until I get sent back to my time," he said with a wicked grin. "Go," he said and everyone stared at him a moment before jumping up to go with their friends.

Blaise reached into his bag and pulled out the book that he was reading. Normally, he would write a story, but he was stuck as you could get. He saw a shadow move over his book and looked up to see not one of his classmates, but his new teacher staring back at him. "Um, hello," he said dubiously, not quite sure what the teacher wanted him for.

"Hi, I just had a question for you. You answered 'here' to two names that I called out, why?"

"Oh, well, I am Blaise Zabini and this is Draco Malfoy," he said and motioned over to the kitten curled up on the desk, lightly sleeping. "The most that he would be able to do is hiss at you," Blaise said with a smile.

"Animagus trial gone wrong?" McGregor inquired.

"No, actually, he is the reason that you are here. Our old Transfiguration teacher turned him into a cat somehow and nobody knows how to undo it."

The professor spent a long moment staring at the small body inflate and deflate with every breath. "If it is any consolation, they do find a cure for him, I just cannot remember what it was…"

A/N 2: There's Chapter 4! Remember to guess who one of my favorite actors is based on this chapter! Cookie and mention in Chapter 5 to all of you who guess before I post the next chapter!


	5. WTF

**Chapter 5: W...T...F... **

A/N: Oh, it seems that I really don't ahve one this time...what is the world coming to!?!? Okay, forgive me for writing this, it was so much fun and I was hyped up on sugar!!!! Thanks for reading guys!!!

* * *

The teacher standing at the head of the room was nothing short of something pulled out of a Halloween Fashion Show. Her outfit was comprised of a fishnet bodysuit, imprinted in the shape of cobwebs. Her lace-up black corset had fabric stitched into it to give it the appearance of blood running from the top of her ample chest to the tip of her skirt. The skirt was only knee-length and had seven slits in it, seeming to be a spider wrapped around her thin waist. A shred of cobweb stocking was attached from her hip to her wrist. On her feet she wore thigh-high black leather boots. Her midnight hair was let loose and fell down to her shoulder blades. Her shoulder was adorned with a vampire bat sitting upright next to her ear. To add to the Halloween-like setting of her, her skin was pale as if she hadn't seen daylight in many years.

As students filed into her classroom, it wasn't her outfit that disturbed many of them, but rather the malicious look in her eyes that put the Slytherin House to shame. Her inky blue eyes held the iciness of a young woman with much in her past that others shunned, but she paid no mind to. The skin around her eyes was painted black with a thick eye shadow and the outer edges shone a red tint.

When the bell sounded, she let out a sharp, shrill whistle and the class came to attention. "Not bad, not bad," she said in a quiet voice which, ironically, carried itself across the eerily-lit classroom. Her dark eyes swept across the classroom once, settling on the far side. "Today, _I_ will be spending the period learning something about each and every one of you." With a grace previously only known to the balletic types, she walked across the front of the room coming to stop in front of a very frightened Neville Longbottom. His brown eyes looked up at her as she studied him critically.

The demon-like teacher with no name, as of yet, continued her critical assault on the students, never once saying a word. When she reached Blaise, he looked up at her with a lightly amused expression. Without a second glance at him, she sidestepped to the desk on which Draco sat with a raised eyebrow.

"Would anyone care to tell me who left this _ball of fluff_ on my desk?"

The question was answered with a pair of challenging eyes looking up from the "ball of fluff on her desk." Human expressions are difficult enough to describe, but had Draco been human, there would not have been a word effective enough to describe the gaze of loathing radiating from him. The left corner of her mouth twitched upward in a smirk that would have rivaled Draco's old one. She knelt down to come face to face with the small kitten. "If I poke the fuzz ball will it bite?" She inquired and raised her hand, index finger stuck out. With a wicked grin she pushed her finger forward and pushed on his nose.

Out of instinct Draco reached out and three long slashes began to seep crimson liquid. The class let out a simultaneous gasp, but the young woman just sat looking at him. As the fluid ran down off her chin and dripped to blend into the black backdrop and red stream running down her corset, she let out a maniacal laugh. She straightened her back, standing tall as before. With a sinful grin plastered on her face she walked to the front of the room once more. "That my class," she began, enunciating each word, "is the greatest act of bravery I, Victoria Stellas have ever seen." She motioned with a swift hand to the back of the room where Draco sat stock-still on his desk. "The stuffed animal might actually have something filling his head. Remember the action of the plushie. Next time, you're getting your hardest potion to date. Enjoy."

As the class filed out, Victoria's eyes never left Draco from her perch in front of her desk. Her ink blue eyes watched as Blaise moved and said something to Draco who proceeded to hop off the desk and onto the chair. Seemingly out of no where a small black blur flew by, clipping Draco's tail and skimming past Blaise. With a frightened squeak, Draco ran out of the room. Blaise followed him out of the room with his eyes before he looked back up at the teacher in charge, noticing that something was missing; he just could not place what it was. With a lightly raised eyebrow, Blaise picked up his bag and walked out of the room.

Sitting down on the desk, Professor Stellas allowed her face to settle into a smirk as her bat landed back on her shoulder. "Good job, Sivio, that will teach that little fuzz ball to mess with me. She said lightly touching the streaks down her cheek with her fingertips.

* * *

The saying has been said before that the universe is full of opposites. That for every idea, action, and thing that happens there will be something opposing it. Even at Hogwarts, which has one of he deepest magical cores of the Wizarding World, this rings true. The dark natured people can only be accompanied by those who simply cannot seem to sit still. Four floors of a mixture of different building materials, a variety of fabrics and furniture, and the mass of the student body separated these two differences. The students have been through many holidays of Halloween and Christmas and the sugar rushes that accompany them (brought on by the seemingly endless supply of candy). Never, though, in their wildest dreams, did they ever think they could find one person that could surpass everything that their short and long-term memories provided to them of sugar rushes that classmates have had in previous years, or ones that they have experienced themselves. As the Defense Against the Dark Arts students were to soon find out, one person could, and did, outshine all that they have ever strived for.

"Everybody, sit down! We have to learn today before I get into trouble with the police, which we really don't have in the Wizarding World, we just have the Aurors who all seem to be busy trying to find Voldie. So in other words, we are going to learn because I said we're going to. Now! Pull out your wands! The ones that are actually made out of wood, GET YOUR MINDS OUT OF THE GUTTER!!!" A woman's energetic voice sounded.

The class stared in shock as their minds fought to keep up with the speed at which their new teacher was talking. Many of the scholars' mouths opened and closed slowly, as if trying to form the words that their brains could not make the connection to. The teacher stood at the front of the room was bouncing on the balls of her feet in anticipation, waiting for the unanxious group to do as they were told. Her loose fitting maroon shirt was pulled taught against her waist, coming to tie in the front with a loose knot. The shirt went down to her mid-thigh, a length most would consider to be a proper length for a party dress. Her pants were also loose-fitting and of the same maroon . They seemed to blend into the shirt, making it seem as if she was wearing a dual-layered one piece outfit. Her red hair fell in ringlets down to her hips. Her vibrant green eyes stared out at the class, as she shook her head, seeming to be a mother attempting to scold a child after they had had an amusing fault.

"If you were in the army right now, you would be done for! I said get your wands out!" The class quickly fumbled in their pockets for the twigs that helped them through their everyday life. "That is much better! Finally, progress!! Now before we get any further I want you to know that my name is Elektra Watts, which means that if you fail at this class you get _Elekra_cuted by 300 _Watts_ of pure Muggle power. Having said that, if you wish to leave this class I suggest that you do so now so you do not risk your health., I would hate to have to explain that to your parents. Now, if you believe that you are going to fail, walk out."

Several of the students got up out of their seats, their stools scraping slightly against the stone floor. When the call of 'faster' came from Professor Watts, they sped up their pace, almost running in their haste. The door was wide open so they believed that they were home free. The four were about to experience what experts called "the irony of life". When they reached the doorway, they were met with an invisible barrier, causing them to crash into one another in succession. The Domino effect then reversed itself and the students all ended up on the floor.

"Lesson one, never trust a person that you have only known for less then ten minutes. Our second lesson is never to rush into a situation, always take your time and have any of you ever cared to pay attention to the phrase "things are not always what they seem"?" She let out a long sigh and said, "Now, on to lesson three! I want you to take your wand and throw it to the front of the room on the count of three." She skipped over to the edge of the room and started the countdown. "One. Two. THREE!!!!" The entire class tossed their wands to the front of the room, not wanting to upset the teacher that was now emitting maniacal laughter. "YOU FAIL!!! The whole lot of you, FAILED! Congratulations!"

The whole class, as one, adopted a shocked expression and started to protest the motion being passed through the court.

"Are you arguing with me?!" the teacher said getting into the face of a student in the first row., then she stood up and started pacing at a rapid pace while she started speaking quickly. "You have been taught since you first walked through the doors of this school that your wand is your greatest tool. You are never to give it up without a fight, in any condition, now matter how frightening the situation is. On the other hand, you have always been taught to follow directions. So, for doing half of your learning right, 'O' plus 'T' divided by two is 'A'. Once again, congratulations! Get up and dance out your happiness!!" The teacher began to do a series of random dances at the front of the room, some students unenthusiastically doing a small jig in their seat that consisted of the moving their arms ever so slightly.

"Now, my four that were smart enough to run into the door, come and stand at the front of the room." The four obeyed, though rather tentatively due to the fact that the last time they obeyed orders they had run into an invisible wall. "Now that you have _finally_ gotten up here, take a box. Inside is a weapon you will use during the duel." The four each grabbed the box offered to them, each varying in size. Down the line each opened their boxes. The items revealed were a Tulip, a piece of cardboard, an unlit purple candlestick, and an overstuffed teddy bear.

"These are Muggle items," commented the tallest of the boys.

"The war, no matter how much I disprove of it, is coming. You must be prepared. Most of the time you will find yourself in a Muggle area, and, if you throw away your wand like you previously did, you will need to know how to fight with something else. Therefore, we will have the teddy bear versus the flower, and the candlestick versus the cardboard piece. No one has the advantage, and no one is at a disadvantage. TEDDY AND TULIP AT THE READY!!! CLEAR THE FLOOR! FIGHT!"

The two boys held their items hesitantly, not knowing how to fight with a stuffed animal or a flimsy flower. They just looked at each other, hoping to find the answer from the other person.

"Imbeciles! Why are you not teaching us how to duel?"

"Because neither of us know how to fight with a flower or a bear…"

"Give me the flower," the boy did as he was told, handing Professor Watts the Tulip. She took it firmly in her hand and whacked him across the head with it.

"Ow, that hurt!"

"See, never tell me the flower is innocent! These flowers are the Flowers of Dooom! They will be out to kill you one day, even if they're not out to do it today! Would you like to see how to fight with the teddy bear?" With a violent shaking of the other boys head, she grinned, once again, from ear to ear. She then turned to the class. "With the candlestick I'm sure that you can all find a number of ways to take somebody down with that. Always remember though, cardboard can cut the toughest of skin if you know how to use it. There, you learned something! Now get out of my classroom!" The class got up and ran, not wanting to be caught at the end of the line. Apparently, the seventh year class at Hogwarts does not have the greatest of short term memories and they all ended up in one big pile, realizing afterwards that the ward on the door was never lifted. A simultaneous groan of pain was emitted at their hippie teacher fell to the floor, rolling with a seizurable laugh.

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A/N: Don't forget to review please! I want to know how I am doing! I have five more chapters that I'm doing!!!! 


	6. Home for the Holidays: Part 1

CHAPTER 6: Home for the Holidays: Part One

A/N: ZOMG! Rave is like, back! Ha, yes I have returned with another chapter of "Shut up and Scratch". For those of you who read my other stories (one-shots), you may have realized that I have had other ideas and this one kind of got thrown to the backburner…I apologize for those of you who have this one your watch, I know it's been a while since the last chapter.

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The next few weeks flew by without news large enough to bother ourselves with. The most exciting piece of information was written on the piece of paper that Blaise had set in front of Draco and, after several minutes of Blaise sitting and watching him struggle to open the folded sheet, Blaise opened it and read: 

_Dear Draco,_

_As I'm sure you know, even in your state, the Spring/Easter holidays are fast approaching. As I understand it, Mr. Zabini has been accompanying you around the school and helping you with everyday life. Mr. Zabini is very welcome to accompany you home. The two of you may come over and he may go home to his house if he would like. Regardless, I am determined to meet this kindly young man before he decides to disappear forever. The two of you should talk this over (or communicate however it is that you do) and write back to me to let me know what your plans are. _

_Your loving mother,_

_Narcissa Malfoy_

"I cannot believe that I am at your house," Blaise said, standing at the walkway to the entrance of the exalted Malfoy Manor.

If the truth were to be told, Blaise's house was nothing less than this, but few have ever had the honor of being welcomed with open arms into the Malfoy Manor. The doors were immediately opened even though Blaise had done nothing to acknowledge his and Draco's presence on the doorstep. When the door had stopped on it's hinges it revealed Narcissa standing on the other side of the Entrance Hall. Hesitantly, Blaise followed the small cat inside, his shoes squeaking slightly on the marble tiles.

"Welcome, boys, I assume your journey here went well?" Narcissa asked drawing Blaise into a hug and then picking up Draco.

"Very well, Mrs. Malfoy," Blaise replied.

"Oh, please call me Narcissa, or even Cissi if you'd prefer it. Formalities are for stuck-up old men who have nothing better to do except attend fancy parties and see how many allies they can make in a night, right Draco?" Narcissa explained to Blaise and asked of her son.

"Ah, Mr. Zabini, I'm glad to see you made it in one piece," came a strong voice from just inside the door behind Narcissa.

"Aha, point proven," she said and rubbed her nose against Draco's wet one, laughing as her husband made a show of greeting Blaise with a flourishing handshake.

"Lucius, the boy is a guest, and the one who brought your son home, who you completely ignored by the way. Blaise is not here to make a business deal of any sort with you, so try not to break his arm next time you greet him."

Lucius found it difficult to hide the sneer that came across his face at that comment. "I will be seeing over the final preparations, if you will excuse me," he said in a cynically quiet voice and then turned and walked through the door through which he came in.

"Just ignore him, Blaise. He's just mad that he won't be able to show Draco off tonight like he usually does."

"What's tonight?" Blaise asked.

"The Easter party, surely I told you about it in the letter I sent," Narcissa said with a thoughtful look on her face.

"No, actually you never mentioned it," Blaise said with a dubious look as if he was admitting he may have missed something.

"Well, knowing me I completely forgot about it while writing to you two, don't blame yourself. "But, yes, we are having an Easter party tonight; it is a friends and family party. The two of you are more than welcome to skip it if you wish to."

* * *

Whoever said that playing games with kids was impossible had obviously never used their pet to beat the little children at their own game. Blaise had talked with Draco about whether or not he wanted to go to the party, having found it easy to communicate with each other after only three days. The two of them spent most of the afternoon weaving around people at the edge of the ballroom, not wanting to get caught up in the way of the dancers. Later in the evening though, the household was doing something Blaise had never done before. Apparently at the annual Malfoy Easter party, they spent the last part of the evening with an Easter egg hunt. The fun part of this was that it was not just the kids doing the hunt, but rather it was a race to see whether the kids or the adults could collect the most eggs. Narcissa and Lucius started to hide the eggs just before Draco and Blaise had come, and apparently Lucius rushed off to finish hiding them before the guests had started to arrive.

Blaise and Draco had found themselves placed on the adults' team because they were now of age. The two had found themselves at the starting spot at the front of the manor. In a streak of brilliance Draco decided that since he would not be able to pick the eggs up, he would just sit in the basket that Blaise was carrying, nestling himself deep into the faux green grass. Blaise looked down at Draco with only his head peering over the edge of the basket, the rest of him covered and laughed lightly, shaking his head. The two started off toward the back of the house when Narcissa and Lucius set them off to start, the spectators of the egg hunt cheered, spurring their team on toward victory.

Fifteen minutes later, their basket was beginning to get filled with eggs and Draco hopped out to avoid suffering a hard-boiled death. Draco quickly discovered that his smaller cat body was ideal for scouring under the bushes for the hidden eggs and their basket was filled up to capacity within a matter of minutes.

"I should let you starve tomorrow morning for making me carry this thing," Blaise said to Draco as they walked back to the front of the house to the "counting station" run by Narcissa for the kids' eggs and Lucius for the adults' eggs. When Blaise set the basket on the table in front of Lucius, he received a questioning glance as if Lucius were asking how they managed to find this many in such a short time. Blaise grinned at him and bent down, then came back up placing Draco beside the basket, "Blame fuzzy."

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A/N2: If you make it this far drop me a line because I like to know whether you think it was good or if it sucked something awful…. No matter what you say I'll be happy, as long as you're honest! Later guys! 


	7. The Night Will Only Know

CHAPTER 7: The Night Will Only Know

A/N: Holy fudge, I'm back, for now. Review people, I'm tired of getting no feedback on this. As always, this is unbeta'd and all mistakes are mine.

Warning: Ah, yea… keep forgetting these. There's a big alcohol reference in this chapter for those of you who are sensitive to the use. Don't drink people; you'll turn into this guy.

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"There was so much crying, I don't think I could deal with a minute more of that," Blaise complained again for what seemed like the fiftieth time since they had left the Malfoy's house. His distress was caused by the fact that Narcissa decided that she wanted to spend twenty minutes fussing over both him and Draco and telling them to be safe and not to forget her, despite the fact that she would see them in three short months. Blaise stood up at the gate to his house now, experiencing a serious case of déjà vu. He looked down as Draco started to step through the gap in the bars and immediately panicked. "No!" he yelled and picked Draco up. The small cat face looked up at him in inquiry and he sighed. "I really don't' want to go home. The last time I saw _him_ over the summer, it wasn't pretty." He bit his lower lip in anxiousness.

Draco didn't know what was wrong with Blaise, but it was scaring him that Blaise was afraid of his own home. With a resolute sigh, Blaise ripped open the gate with such a force that it bounced back and shut with a clang, though the two boys had already made it through. Blaise's resolve seemed to crumble the further they made it up the path, and Draco was helpless in the hold Blaise had on him. The front door was pulled open before Blaise had a chance to reach for the handle, and what stood there was something beyond what Draco could ever comprehend.

The man standing in the doorway was nothing short of shabby. His dark brown hair was strewn about his head as if he had not groomed it in several days; in fact, his entire demeanor appeared to be that way. His skin held a sallow tinge to it, his face was gruff as if it had not met a razor in quite a while and he had a lost expression about him. Both the man's breath and clothes (which were creased beyond all belief) reeked of alcohol and smoke.

Draco looked up at Blaise when the taller boy dropped his head in what appeared to be either shame or humility and said in a quiet voice, "Hi, Dad."

The man in the doorway gave a slight nod of greeting and looked as if he were about to say something snotty, until his eyes landed on Draco who was still nestled in Blaise's arms. "Where'd ya get tha fuzz-thing?" Blaise's dad replied in a drunken slur.

"One of mom's friends gave him to me to look after for today and tomorrow, she had an important meeting to go to and she didn't want to leave him alone," Blaise responded hotly.

The haggard man seemed to accept this explanation if his lack of response was anything to go by. Blaise let out a sharp hiss as he was grabbed not-so-gently by the hair and pulled through the threshold. "Take the cat up to your room, I don't want it messing up my house, and be down here in no less than five minutes." Draco was startled at the swiftness with which the man went from a slur to speaking as if he were talking to a misbehaved convict.

With a speed that Draco would not have believed Blaise capable of, had he not seen it before, Blaise made his way up the staircase to his room. Once there, he set Draco down gently on the bed, apologizing to Draco about hurting him, though he did nothing of the sort. "Okay, I have to go back downstairs, just stay here and don't worry; I'll be back soon..ish," and with that he was out the door, shutting it behind him so that Draco could not get out.

Realeasing a meow full of worry and distress out of the situation, Draco curled up on Blaise's pillow and stared longingly at the door.

* * *

It was quite some time before Blaise walked through his bedroom door, only to find Draco fast asleep on his bed. At the click of the door closing, the little black head popped up and Draco rose to greet Blaise. The brown haired boy could not bring himself to look Draco in the eye. He knew that he would have streaks of tears running down his flushed cheeks and he could feel the draft of the room sneaking into the tears in his shirt. With a frustrated groan, Blaise slipped his shirt off and flung it at the nearest wall. Turning to face Draco he spread his arms wide, the tears coming out more quickly then they were before. "This is me." Quietly, he walked over and lay down on the bed, face to face with Draco. "This is where I live." Draco moved forward and nuzzled against the ghastly bruise that was forming on Blaise's jaw. "This is home…"

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A/N 2: Awe, what a sad ending, I know I suck. But I promise you it all works out in the end, or does it. You'll have to keep reading to find out. Oh, and while you're at it, tell me what you thought about it. Reviews are kitty food, they feed Draco. 


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